A blog about games, the people who play them, and the madness that ensues

Thursday, 11 June 2015

Command exercise: delaying action in Prussia 1945

For this game we're going to be looking at everything from the German perspective. Followers are welcome to comment on what the German commander should do next. The default setting is East Prussia in 1945. The Germans are trying to make a last ditch defence of a village to allow refugees and other troops to escape the onslaught of the Red Army. A German company under the leadership of Hauptmann Muller has occupied part of the village, setting up a defensive line in a row of cottages. They are awaiting the Russians, who are not far away...

In this game we're going to be using the company level rules, I Ain't Been Shot Mum from Too Fat Lardies. All Soviet troops will start on blinds until spotted by Germans. On the table, Russian blinds will be signified by lone Russian soldiers who may / may not represent larger units, or may just be scouts sniffing around. One infantry model on the table will equal two actual soldiers, unless they are Big Men (leaders). Vehicles will be represented on a 1:1 basis.

Let's take a look at the initial German positions. The Germans are Veteran Infantry.

First, Zug 1, on the left of the position...

10 men led by Leutenant Schmidt (level 3), plus an MG42 team with six men. They are set up watching the northern road.

This is what Schmidt and his men can see, looking eastwards - nothing moving at the moment...

Still in Zug 1, 10 more men, led by Sergeant Schneider (level 1), are in a cottage on Schmidt's right. Schneider, a tailor before the war, is the one toting an assault rifle (bottom right).

On Schneider's right, in the next cottage, Hauptmann Muller, the company CO (level 4). He has an 8 man squad with him, plus a Forward Observation Officer (FOO), Leutenant Fischer, who is spotting for an off-table battery of 105 mm guns. Fischer is the one with the natty helmet camo.

On Muller's right, we have Zug Two. This time an 8 man squad with a Panzerfaust 30. They are covering the southerly route into town. They have a two man MG42 team with them as well.

This is a good position looking east to the church, which you can see in the background. Nice fields of fire but a likely axis of advance for Ivan.

Finally, the second squad from Zug 2, 8 men under the command of Leutenant Weber (level 3). He is Zug 2's officer. This is a ruined cottage in the more heavily wooded terrain to the south of town, and potentially the German weak point if the Russians choose to come at them through the woods. They can see the church to their left through the trees but have woods in front of them, obscuring their sight. Weber is hoping that the Russians choose the easy option and come at them down the road.